Effects of a Reading Strategy Training Aimed at Improving Mental Simulation in Primary School Children

Björn B. de Koning; Lisanne T. Bos; Stephanie I. Wassenburg; Menno van der Schoot

doi:10.1007/s10648-016-9380-4

Effects of a Reading Strategy Training Aimed at Improving Mental Simulation in Primary School Children

Björn B. de Koning^*, Lisanne T. Bos, Stephanie I. Wassenburg, Menno van der Schoot

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of a mental simulation training targeted at improving children’s reading comprehension. In a 4-week period, one group of third and fourth graders (n = 75) learned to draw upon their sensorimotor memories and experiences to mentally simulate text (experimental training group), whereas another group (n = 51) received the schools’ regular reading comprehension instructions (control training group). Pre-to-posttest differences in general reading comprehension, reading motivation, and mental simulation (distinguishing between perceptual and motor simulation) were examined to evaluate the trainings’ effectiveness. Compared to the control group, children who had received the mental simulation training showed improved performance on general reading comprehension (in Grade 3) and scored higher on reading motivation (in Grades 3 and 4). There were no performance differences between groups on the mental simulation measures. These findings indicate that it is beneficial for children to encourage and teach them to connect their sensorimotor experiences to the text they are reading.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	869-889
Number of pages	21
Journal	Educational Psychology Review
Volume	29
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-016-9380-4
Publication status	Published - Dec 2017

Funding

Acknowledgments This research was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research /Dutch Program Council for Educational Research (NWO/PROO) for the project BLearning to read with imagination^ (#411-11-807). We would like to thank Marcella van Beusekom and Rianne den Ouden for their assistance with data collection. We also thank CITO for providing us with information on the standardized reading comprehension tests and assisting in the assessment and scoring procedures.

Funders	Funder number
Dutch Program Council for Educational Research
NWO/PROO	411-11-807
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Keywords

Embodied cognition
Intervention
Mental simulation
Primary school children
Reading comprehension

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s10648-016-9380-4

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title = "Effects of a Reading Strategy Training Aimed at Improving Mental Simulation in Primary School Children",

abstract = "This study investigated the effects of a mental simulation training targeted at improving children{\textquoteright}s reading comprehension. In a 4-week period, one group of third and fourth graders (n = 75) learned to draw upon their sensorimotor memories and experiences to mentally simulate text (experimental training group), whereas another group (n = 51) received the schools{\textquoteright} regular reading comprehension instructions (control training group). Pre-to-posttest differences in general reading comprehension, reading motivation, and mental simulation (distinguishing between perceptual and motor simulation) were examined to evaluate the trainings{\textquoteright} effectiveness. Compared to the control group, children who had received the mental simulation training showed improved performance on general reading comprehension (in Grade 3) and scored higher on reading motivation (in Grades 3 and 4). There were no performance differences between groups on the mental simulation measures. These findings indicate that it is beneficial for children to encourage and teach them to connect their sensorimotor experiences to the text they are reading.",

keywords = "Embodied cognition, Intervention, Mental simulation, Primary school children, Reading comprehension",

author = "{de Koning}, {Bj{\"o}rn B.} and Bos, {Lisanne T.} and Wassenburg, {Stephanie I.} and {van der Schoot}, Menno",

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AU - Bos, Lisanne T.

AU - Wassenburg, Stephanie I.

AU - van der Schoot, Menno

PY - 2017/12

Y1 - 2017/12

N2 - This study investigated the effects of a mental simulation training targeted at improving children’s reading comprehension. In a 4-week period, one group of third and fourth graders (n = 75) learned to draw upon their sensorimotor memories and experiences to mentally simulate text (experimental training group), whereas another group (n = 51) received the schools’ regular reading comprehension instructions (control training group). Pre-to-posttest differences in general reading comprehension, reading motivation, and mental simulation (distinguishing between perceptual and motor simulation) were examined to evaluate the trainings’ effectiveness. Compared to the control group, children who had received the mental simulation training showed improved performance on general reading comprehension (in Grade 3) and scored higher on reading motivation (in Grades 3 and 4). There were no performance differences between groups on the mental simulation measures. These findings indicate that it is beneficial for children to encourage and teach them to connect their sensorimotor experiences to the text they are reading.

AB - This study investigated the effects of a mental simulation training targeted at improving children’s reading comprehension. In a 4-week period, one group of third and fourth graders (n = 75) learned to draw upon their sensorimotor memories and experiences to mentally simulate text (experimental training group), whereas another group (n = 51) received the schools’ regular reading comprehension instructions (control training group). Pre-to-posttest differences in general reading comprehension, reading motivation, and mental simulation (distinguishing between perceptual and motor simulation) were examined to evaluate the trainings’ effectiveness. Compared to the control group, children who had received the mental simulation training showed improved performance on general reading comprehension (in Grade 3) and scored higher on reading motivation (in Grades 3 and 4). There were no performance differences between groups on the mental simulation measures. These findings indicate that it is beneficial for children to encourage and teach them to connect their sensorimotor experiences to the text they are reading.

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Effects of a Reading Strategy Training Aimed at Improving Mental Simulation in Primary School Children

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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